3 fishermen take on the world & win!

CHENNAI: When a few Aussie surfers took a look at the considerably shorter, sunburnt, minimally -equipped fishermen from Kovalam take on the waves with a surf board, they said, “Boys have talent, eh?” But just how good they’ve gotten is something of a surprise. On February 9, when the organisers of the Puri Surfing Festival in Odisha decided to hold an impromptu Stand-up Paddle competition for the 200 odd surfers from nine countries, they really wouldn’t have expected all three winners to be from the same fishing village in the little Kovalam cove. “We very rarely get any sort of recognition at these events because the foreigners are always much better, but this time, we did it!,” said 30-year-old Murthy Megavan, believed to be the first fisherman who took to surfing along the Chennai coastline. The other two fishermen who won first and second places, V Vignesh (22) and D Manigandan (22), are proteges of the proud Murthy.While it is surprising that the pupils surpassed their guru of sorts, Murthy clarifies that this wasn’t a surfing competition, but a stand-up paddle event, “I mostly work with riding waves and the only time I have tried a stand-up paddle before was in 2009, when a foreigner had brought one down to Kovalam,” he says and adds, “I’m very happy that I actually managed to come in third in such a gruelling event, just the second time I tried it.” His proteges, who are now instructors at the Bay of Life Surf School, have had more practice on stand-up boards, he adds.And it really does sound gruelling. Imagine having to stand on a 11-foot-long surf board, faced with the prospect of paddling your way against a current on the Konark creek, 3km and back. To sit out from exhaustion would mean instant elimination. Judged by three-time surfing champion Jesse Brown from Hawaii, the fishermen edged out the muscled international surfers on the merit of their stamina. “Hoisting in the padagu (catamarans) for a living, makes us endure long stretches of stress. This was like an extension,” Murthy laughs.Having returned home to Kovalam, all three fishermen-surfers are excited after becoming instant celebrities in Odisha, for almost three days. But now, it's back to work, “For the past two years, the commitment from Indian parents to have their kids learn surfing has been great. We are hopeful that someday we can make a living entirely off this alone,” he trails off enthusiastically.